Modern inventory systems, such as those used in mail order warehouses, supply chain distribution centers, airport luggage systems, and custom-order manufacturing facilities, face significant challenges in responding to requests for inventory items. As inventory systems grow, the challenges of simultaneously completing large numbers of packing, storing, and other inventory-related tasks become non-trivial. In inventory systems tasked with responding to large numbers of diverse inventory requests, inefficient utilization of system resources, including space, equipment, and manpower, can result in lower throughput, unacceptably long response times, an ever-increasing backlog of unfinished tasks, and, in general, poor system performance.
Increasingly, mobile order fulfillment systems are used within inventory facilities to address these and other concerns. A mobile order fulfillment system may provide automation for bringing ordered items to central workstations for workers to select and pack the ordered items in preparation for shipping. Mobile order fulfillment systems such as this can greatly increase efficiencies within an order fulfillment facility.